It is always nice to have your son or a family member visit us up here in NW Wisconsin and in this video you will see and meet my youngest son, Jonas. Jonas lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is ever nicer when your guest knows how to fly fish and can share in a journey down one of our rivers.
I set Jonas up with a 6 wt rod, floating line and a grasshopper … as the hoppers are out in full force up here and a real source of food for the hungry smallmouth bass. Jonas did well, in fact he caught his first fish before we even hit the bridge at our put-in spot.
I caught several smallies along the way as well as a couple of pike and it was truly a gorgeous weather day here on the St Croix River. just before our take-out I saw a pool that had a very large smallie swimming around in … and proceeded to cast to him. As you will see in the video, I missed this trophy fish 2 or 3 times before finally sealing the deal. Seems like it is very hard to be patient when you know that the fish is large. I was a bit jumpy on the first couple of takes but eventually was able to set the hook on what turned out to be just over 21 inches.
Not only was this the best fish of the 23′ season …. but it was the largest (longest) smallmouth I have ever taken on topwater … in this case it was a classic baitfish popper! What a thrill and also a very neat adventure to share with my son who ended up just a few feet away and was able to take some photos of me and my topwater smallie!
I hope you like the video and remember that if you have questions or comments those can be left in the comment section below or by emailing me at flyfishingwithjeff@gmail.com. I will do my best to get back to you and give you a good answer. Here is hoping you are having a great summer ….. Gal 6:9!
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